March 15, 2002
FISCAL IMPRUDENCE
by Vic Viereck, CPA
On Friday, March 1, 2002, under the guise of "affordable housing", the Los Angeles City Council voted 12 - 0 to further destroy the city's property tax base. They approved a plan to create a $100 million trust fund to build "affordable housing". While Mayor Hahn said that the trust fund would be built without imposing new fees or subtracting from existing services, his plan says otherwise. The plan indicates dollars will come from redirecting city revenue from several sources. Those are Community Redevelopment Agency funds, federal community development block grants, tobacco settlement funds, and an anticipated INCREASE in vehicle license fees. After the termination of Community Redevelopment Agency project areas, property tax revenue for those areas would be diverted to the trust fund instead of finally going back into the city's General Fund to cover vital city services. If utilized, block grants are currently sought and used for community rehabilitation and improvements throughout the city. Tobacco settlement funds were originally intended to discourage smoking.....
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